A Brief Interview with Katie Kieffer, Author of ‘Let Me Be Clear’

Katie Kieffer: The title [“Let Me Be Clear”] turns Barack Obama’s famous catchphrase against him on behalf of my generation; it’s our turn to be clear with our president. The book is all about the Millennial generation and addresses how we can take back our futures and achieve the American Dream which is difficult, but not impossible to do, thanks to Obama’s policies.

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Before 2016, it’s crucial that Millennials–the majority of whom voted for Obama twice–realize that the policies of Warren and Clinton will only set them back further. I wrote this book in a way that’s enlightening–it contains 3 years of research–yet accessible and fun to read.

Breitbart News: Ok, and you’ve written about a number of issues in the book here, so tell us about the economy. How has he destroyed the economy for Millennials?

K: Obamacare is a perfect example of a huge new regulation that will particularly set our generation back. I interviewed close to 300 doctors and surgeons to get their feedback and alternative solutions to Obamacare so we can provide affordable, high-quality insurance to all Americans. Those solutions are included in the book, including a legal way to opt-out of the ACA until the law is repealed. Congress could use these ideas–from real health professionals–as a starting place for writing better legislation.

Currently, about 15 percent of Millennials are unemployed and over a third, which is an all-time high, have been living in their parents’s basements during the Obama years. I have a background in commercial real estate. One “service” that I provide for Millennials in “Let Me Be Clear” is an important, yet entertaining-to-read, historical explanation for how you can trace this entire economic downturn to the housing policies of Presidents Carter, Clinton–and, though to a lesser degree, even Bush.

I then show and how President Obama exacerbated these poor housing policies, which helps explain why our economy has not recovered. This historical storyline allows Millennials–too young to remember these policies–to see that instead of voting for Warren or Clinton in 2016, they will be better off supporting someone who will promote a more entrepreneurial form of government. 70 percent of Millennials aspire to become entrepreneurs according to a recent study from Deloitte. So, in order for Millennials to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams, we will need a new set of public policies.

Breitbart News: And get the government off their backs, right?

K: Right.

Breitbart News: So tell me about energy

K: One issue that I’ve been paying a great deal of attention to is fracking and how modern technology is allowing us to utilize our own vast energy resources. Yet, we are transporting these resources–crude out of the Bakken–in a very dangerous and environmentally unfriendly way, which is by rail. In “Let Me Be Clear,” I talk about Obama’s buddy, who I call “his mistress,” namely Warren Buffett, and how he stands to profit off not building pipelines like Keystone XL.

I explain why we should build this pipeline and others like Sandpiper because they are economically smart and environmentally safe. Most importantly, pipelines make the transportation of crude safer for humans, preventing train derailments such as the one that occurred last Monday (February 16) in West Virginia. If that derailment had happened just 35 miles sooner, the capital city of Charleston would have been devastated. Rail cars are not meant to transport oil extracted from shale, a highly volatile form of crude.

We do need to build pipelines; they garner bipartisan support, and they would create jobs for Millennials as well as reduce energy prices for Millennials–and all Americans. An additional benefit, according to the Wall Street Journal and IHS Energy’s February report, is that 70 percent of the “resulting refined products” like diesel and gasoline would stay here in the U.S. and be consumed by Americans if we were to build Keystone XL.

Breitbart News: Okay, and so the last issue I’ll ask about is education. So what do you think?

K: Education is a topic that Democrats have used to buy votes from Millennials, particularly the topic of student loan debt forgiveness. A major reason why Obama won in 2008 and 2012 is because he proffered promises like: If you vote me, you won’t have any student loan debt. Warren is signalling that she will use a similar ploy and we should expect Hillary to do so as well if she’s the DFL presidential candidate.

Part of what I do in the book and in my speeches is show how Republicans could address this issue in a more transparent, ethical, and solution-oriented way than the Democrats. Colleges are ripping students off. I mean, the average student is spending a minimum of four years and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on undergraduate and graduate degrees only to find themselves nannying or working as a barista. We must stop pumping taxpayer dollars into under-performing schools, and instead hold colleges accountable in a free market way. Additionally, some young people should be rejecting the cultural and political pressure to attend college altogether. College is not a universal path to success, especially for entrepreneurs.

The Democrats’s latest plans to address student loan debt do not address the heart of the problem. This means the Republicans have an opportunity to offer a better way to solve this national crisis–where 7 million Americans are now in default on their student loans–and I explain more on how to do so in the book and in my presentations.